The Red and Black

By ANDREW DEMILLO Staff Writer

University law students will step back in time as the trial of the century comes into town this afternoon.

Faculty and students will transform the University Chapel into a 1925 Tennessee courtroom to re-enact the Scopes trial, the first in the United States about the teaching of evolution in public schools.

Third-year law student Marie Bruce adapted the original court transcripts into a re-enactment.

"Basically, we've been trying to squeeze a week of testimony into about an hour," said Bruce, who will direct the re-enactment.

Billed as the trial of the century, the Scopes case involved a high-school teacher who was fired for violating a Tennessee law prohibiting teaching evolution.

Thomas Eaton, a law professor, said the week-long trial held the nation's attention in 1925 and featured "two of the biggest monster figures in law."

The defense attorney, Clarence Darrow, was described by Eaton as a precursor to recent high-profile attorneys such as Johnny Cochran.

"There are a lot of comparisons that can be drawn between the two," said Eaton, who will play the judge. "Both used the courtroom as a way to speak out about other social issues, and both were very outspoken with the media."

William Jennings Bryan, a former presidential candidate, argued and won the case for Tennessee.

Preston Smith, a third-year law student, described the debate between the two attorneys as unique.

"The interplay between Darrow and Bryan during the trial was definitely something you can't find in modern trials," Smith said. "It was basically a clash of the titans."

The trial was the first to be broadcast nationally and transmitted live by radio, which was "unprecedented," said law professor Ron Carlson.

"The kind of media frenzy that accompanies many trials today began with this case," Carlson said. "The attention given by the media and the public was unprecedented but was a precursor to the future coverage of trials."

Jo Carol Nesset-Sale, who has experienced a high-profile trial firsthand, will provide commentary on the re-enactment.

Nesset-Sale, of the University Legal Aid and Defender Clinic, defended convicted rapist John Alexander Scieszka.

The trial reenactment will take place today at the University Chapel from 2:30 to 4:30 P.M.

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